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Harper ‘very concerned’ about reports of Canada spying on Brazil

Government initially silent but allegations threaten to turn into a diplomatic row in region where Canada wants stronger trade ties.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadian officials are “reaching out very proactively” to their counterparts in Brazil after reports of Canada spying on the Latin American country's mining ministry. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is accusing the Ottawa-based Communications Security Establishment Canada of mounting a sophisticated spy operation against her country’s ministry of mines and energy.

Speaking at the Asia Pacific leaders summit in Bali, Harper said there is a commissioner of the spy agency who audits the organization to ensure it operates within Canadian law and added that his the government will be doing what he called “appropriate follow-up.”

The Prime Minister’s Office initially brushed off the reports, saying it would not comment on national security issues, but the allegations are threatening to turn into a major diplomatic fire between the emerging South American economic powerhouse and Canada, which hopes to extend trade ties in the region.

On Monday, an outraged Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff demanded answers after a media report alleged Canada electronically eavesdropped on the Brazilian mines and energy ministry in an act of industrial espionage, the Star’s Isabel Teotonio reports.

In the capital city of Brasilia, Foreign Affairs Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado summoned the Canadian ambassador to “denounce the espionage” and express the “indignation of the Brazilian government.”

Machado also demanded an explanation and condemned the “serious and unacceptable violation of national sovereignty and of the rights of people and companies,” according to a statement released by the ministry after the meeting.

The criticisms surfaced after a television report Sunday night on Brazil’s Globo network said Canada’s electronic eavesdropping agency targeted the ministry responsible for the nation’s mineral and energy resources.

The report, based on documents leaked by Snowden, was co-authored by Glenn Greenwald, a Guardian reporter based in Rio de Janeiro, who first broke the stories about the NSA’s global spy program.

CSE is alleged to have used software called Olympia to target the metadata of emails and telephone calls of the Mines and Energy Ministry. There’s no indication the content of that communication was accessed, but CSE was reportedly able to identify who spoke with whom, as well as when, where and how.

The suggestion is that the spying was done for economic benefit and to give Canadian companies an advantage when competing for contracts in Brazil, an emerging global powerhouse.

The report was based on top-secret CSE documents presented in June 2012 at an intelligence conference attended by the United States, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand. The documents suggest working with an elite unit of cyberspies in the NSA and copying information entering and leaving the ministry’s network in an operation called Man on the Side.

In the TV report, Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao told Globo that “Canada has interests in Brazil, above all in the mining sector. I can’t say if the spying served corporate interests or other groups.” He also said his conversations with the president were hacked, as well as conversations with other authorities.

On Monday, Lobao released a statement referring to the “invasion” as “serious,” and saying it “suggests an attempt at obtaining strategic information. . . . It’s deserving of our condemnation.”

When contacted by the Star, spokespeople for both Machado and Lobao said the ministers were not available for an interview, but had made their views known in news releases.

The accusations come a month after reports surfaced that the U.S. monitored phone calls and emails of Rousseff and senior executives at Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company. That prompted Rousseff to cancel a state visit to the U.S. later this month. And while addressing the UN General Assembly two weeks ago, Rousseff accused the U.S. of violating human rights and international law

On Monday, Rousseff called on the U.S. and its allies to “stop their action of espionage once and for all.”

“This is inadmissible between countries who want to be partners. We reject cyber war,” she wrote on Twitter. “Spying undermines the sovereignty of nations and privacy of people and companies.”

She also said she asked Lobao to review and reinforce the security of the ministry’s communications systems.

On Monday, the Canadian government continued to field questions about the matter, but revealed little.

Defence Minister Rob Nicholson refused to comment on the allegations, saying only that Canada looks forward to continuing “collaboration and friendship” with Brazil.

“We don’t comment on foreign intelligence-gathering activities,” Nicholson said in Ottawa during a media event to announce an initiative to cut costs in the defence department.

“I’m confident of the strong relationship that exists between our two countries.” he said. “There’s quite a bit of collaboration between the two countries on economic and social issues.”

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